The Messenger Birds have announced “GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ALBUM IT’S ALL A BLUR,” a new EP slated for release on June 13, 2025. The title straddles irony and audacity, given the absence of verifiable Grammy recognition in their discography.
The duo’s sound has evolved since their 2020 debut, Everything Has To Fall Apart Eventually. Tracks like “Phantom Limb,” with 9.3 million Spotify streams, weaponize dissonance to dissect emotional voids, while 2022’s Tragic Comedy employed dark humour to mirror societal fractures. Their forthcoming EP’s lead single, “FAKE LIVES,” teases a continuation of this ethos, a theme previously explored in Tragic Comedy’s “Honest Lies,” featured in YouTube’s Impulse series.
The EP’s title, whether a satirical jab at industry pageantry or an unverified accolade, reinforces the band’s role as industry skeptics. Their 2019 single “No Pardon” directly critiqued systemic failures, while live performances-such as their 2020 Mo Pop Festival set alongside Tame Impala and Lizzo-demonstrate their ability to translate basement-recorded intensity (originating on a karaoke machine) to large-scale stages. Bengry’s recent statement – “Tomorrow, there could be another artist just as talented and they might make it or they might not”-underscores their Detroit-bred resilience and DIY ethos.
The Messenger Birds’ trajectory-from hockey camp teens recording on cassette to festival-circuit mainstays-reflects a broader trend of independent artists leveraging subversion to navigate an oversaturated market. Their 2021 album Midwestern Mirage employed “dream-like, otherworldly guitar lullabies” to mirror existential dissonance, a formula likely intensified in It’s All a Blur. The duo’s minimalist setup (guitar, drums, and layered electronics) maximizes tension, as heard in “Self Destruct,” where Williams’ pummeling rhythms anchor Bengry’s distorted vocal delivery.
By titling their EP with a Grammy reference, The Messenger Birds either court controversy or expose the absurdities of industry validation-a theme resonating with acts like Parquet Courts and IDLES, who weaponize irony to critique systemic gatekeeping. Their 2023 collaboration with poet M. L. Liebler on “Burn the Evidence” further blurred artistic boundaries, merging spoken-word critiques of consumerism with sludge-metal breakdowns.
It’s All a Blur arrives as independent artists increasingly reject traditional pathways to recognition. The Messenger Birds’ unverified Grammy claim-whether factual, fictional, or conceptual-mirrors the paradoxes of a streaming era where virality often eclipses craft. Their 2020 track “Phantom Limb,” now a sleeper hit, gained traction not through radio play but via sync licensing and word-of-mouth-a blueprint for DIY success in fractured markets.
